


Lost and found

by Lil_winchester7



Category: Camp Half Blood - Fandom, Voltron - Fandom, vld - Fandom
Genre: M/M, camp half blood au, klance because I can, this is gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-05-19 20:11:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14880426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_winchester7/pseuds/Lil_winchester7
Summary: A keithxlance or klance fanfic AU. they live in the demi-god world of camp half-blood. they go on a quest given to them by the oracle so they can retrieve the sword of ares. through out the adventure they come to realize that they are each others other half, but alas not everything is sunshine and rainbows all the time in this dangerous world. read to find out more! ~ lil winchester7





	1. Chapter 1

lance McClain grew up near varadero in Cuba. he was about 11 when he was taken away from his mom and siblings to go live in New York and he hasn't seen any of them ever since. now half bloods aren't allowed to have phones because if they use one then it's basically sending out a signal to all monsters within a ten mile radius. it's been 6 years and he now lives at a place called camp half-blood. he's a year round camper meaning that he basically lives at camp half-blood. he was claimed by one of the big three Greek gods, Poseidon. it was a huge deal when everyone found out. it was extremely rare for the big three to have any kids at all. although lance was liked by many of the campers there were some who didn't like him and in fact he had a rival, Keith Kogane from the ares cabin, who was also a year round camper. now they didn't necessarily hate each other just more of a huge dislike for each other. ever since lance arrived at camp half-blood he's been competing with Keith. whether it was hand to hand combat, or sword combat, the lava wall, or even Pegasus riding! it was natural for Keith to be competitive but the lengths that he would sometimes take it to were a bit ridiculous. at least that's what lance thought. 

lance didn't just have a rival though, he also had friends. their names were hunk and pidge. hunk is from the Demeter cabin and pidge is from the Athena cabin. now the story of how hunk and lance met was a bit funny. on lance's first day of camp he was walking by the strawberry field, what he didn't know was that some of the younger kids from the Demeter cabin were learning how to use their skills and powers. lance walked a bit to close to one patch of strawberries and before he knew it he was snatched into air by a large vine. he screamed and was now dangling in the air. he could feel all the blood rushing to his head, making him a bit dizzy. he started flailing his arms and kicking his legs out "let me down! someone get me down!" he screamed. he heard foot steps and soon saw a young chunky boy with a green vest, a yellow shirt, and khaki shorts on. he started moving his hands around as if to manipulate the plant into letting lance go. it took a while and by the time lance was back on the ground he was about to pass out from the amount of blood that had gone to his head. he was seeing some spots and felt extremely light headed. "are you ok?" he heard someone ask. he turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw that it was the same boy who had gotten him down. "i'm so sorry about that." the boy said reaching a hand out toward lance to help him up. lance grabbed his hand and tried standing up but fell back down. "ow!" he said as he fell back on his butt. "here let me help you." the boy said picking lance up, putting one of his hands around his waist to support him. "thanks." lance said. "i'm hunk." the boy said. "i'm lance." he said giving hunk a small smile. hunk took him to the infirmary and they've been best friends ever since. when pidge first got to camp lance noticed that they were really sneaky and quiet. they were from the Athena cabin and were blessed by Hephaestus. they kept to themselves most of the time and this intrigued lance. one night, lance convinced hunk to sneak out with him to go and see where pidge went every night. it took a lot of convincing since hunk was concerned about the harpies who were out on patrol. they got around the harpies and went up a hill where they saw pidge sitting. when they got closer they saw that pidge was tinkering with something. they would build some little machine and then take apart to make something else. lance snuck up on pidge and scared them. pidge gave out a little scream and turned around to see who it was. they saw lance and hunk and gave them a death glare. "what the heck," they said picking up the pieces they dropped "what are you doing out of your cabins this late?" pidge asked. "what are you doing out of your cabin?" lance asked. pidge looked down and started putting their stuff away "nothing, i couldn't sleep," they said "but i'm gonna go back now, so good night." they said and got up and left. since that night pidge joined the two friends making it a trio. lance was sixteen now about to turn 17 on the 28th of July. it was only a month away. every year hunk and pidge do a little something for lance but what lance really looks forward to is hunk's cooking. hunk was a fantastic cook and he made the best cakes and cookies! lance's mouth watered just thinking about it. lance loved his friends so much and they were practically like family to him. he would do anything for them, even die!

lance woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his cabin door. the Poseidon cabin was practically empty except for lance who lived there. there were 2 sets of bunk beds and lance took the bottom bunk on the one to the right of the cabin. at the end of the cabin there was an opening which led to the lake and lance had an amazing view of the lake from there. lance threw his covers off and got up to answer the door. he was wearing a pair of blue boxers and a white shirt. he answered the door and was greeted with a big smile that he could only assume was hunks. "morning lance!" hunk said, stepping into the cabin. "morning hunk. what are you doing up this early?" lance said rubbing his eyes. "it's 7:00 o'clock, lance. it's not that early," hunk walked over to one of the bunks and sat down on one "i thought you'd be up already." he said. "nah i couldn't sleep last night so i was up pretty late." lance said grabbing a blue shirt, a pair of jeans and his jacket. he walked into his bathroom and changed out of his pajamas. he came out of the bathroom and saw that hunk had grabbed his shoes and placed them next to the bathroom door. lance sat on the floor, found some socks, put them on and then his shoes. he stood back up and nearly tripped over his own long legs. "careful! don't go busting your face up there buddy." hunk said steadying lance. lance gave out a huffed laugh "I just woke up, i need to wake up my body. i'll be fine." hunk let go of lance "whatever you say". lance walked toward the cabin door and opened it, walking out into the sun light. all the cabins we're put next to each other and made a horse shoe shape. they started walking towards the pavilion to grab some breakfast. they parted ways since every camper had to sit at their assigned table for their godly parent. since lance was a son of Poseidon he didn't have anyone else to sit with. hunk went to go sit at his table with his siblings. a nymph served lance his plate. he thought she was pretty cute so he winked at her and as she disappeared into thin air he heard he giggle. lance turned to his plate and started eating. he got the usual breakfast, eggs, bacon, pancakes and a glass of orange juice. lance looked out to where the beach was. the sunlight was reflecting off the water making it look like someone had thrown glitter throughout the air above the water. lance had always loved the water. when he lived in Cuba with his family they would always go out to the beach. he would splash around and swim with his siblings while his mom would watch from the shore. he missed that. he missed the beach over there. he missed the garlic knots that they would all get from the little pizza shack on the beach. he missed his family. lance managed to tear his eyes away from the water, it was causing him to remember many of his painful memories. he looked around at the other campers. everyone was laughing and talking. he wished his siblings were here to talk with him. he kept looking around till his eyes landed on a familiar pair of eyes. Keith. Keith had an dirty look on his face and it was meant for lance, lance gave him a dirty look back. Keith just looked away with an annoyed expression. lance scoffed at himself. he continued eating his food and finished. he got up from his table and went back to his cabin to grab his sword for sword fighting practice. his sword was made out of celestial bronze which was a metal that could kill every monster in the Greek and Roman world. he made his way to the arena where they fought and decided to sit down while he waited for whatever cabin he would be practicing with.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith was never really sure how he got to camp half-blood. he was really young when it happened, he had just turned 7 years old so the memory was a bit fuzzy. all he really remembers was his mom hugging him for the last time and telling him that she loved him. a couple days before that it was his birthday, October 23. for his birthday his mom had given him the very jacket that he stills wears to this day. he didn't have a really big frame, and still doesn't, so the jacket was a little baggy on him. his mom got it like that so he could have it would fit him for a few years. the day he was taken to camp half-blood was a day he would never forget, not because it was a great day but, because it was the very day his mom died.

he remembers a monster as tall as the apartment ceiling. it had tracked the scent of Keith, demi-gods have a scent that monsters can follow and half the time they either want to kill the demi-god or eat them. the creature had one eye in the center of its forehead and had ripped up clothes with a club in hand. his mom died protecting him. the monster, that Keith later learned was called a cyclops, had thrown his mom across the room. she got back up and ran towards the monster screaming with a kitchen knife. she stabbed it in the stomach but that didn't do anything. the monster just picked his mom up and threw her on the ground. her body went limp and she wasn't moving. Keith ran over to his mom "mommy?" he asked shaking his mom. his mom didn't move, he started crying. the monster took this moment and decided to attack Keith. it lumbered toward Keith and Keith knew what was about to happen. right when the monster was only a foot away from him it exploded into a bunch of yellow dust. the dust covered Keith and some got in his mouth, making him cough. he looked up to see how this happened and saw a mean looking guy. he had a buzz cut and was wearing red muscle shirt, a pair of black jeans, a black leather duster, and combat boots. "you ok kid?" he asked. Keith didn't respond but instead looked at the man with surprise. he looked away from the man back to his mom. "is my mommy dead?" he asked, tears streaming down his face. the man knelt next to Keith and put a hand on his shoulder. "i'm sorry kiddo, but she's gone." he said. Keith then broke down and hugged his mom's limp body, crying even more.

after crying for what felt like forever his mom's body moved in a little seizure like movement then stopped. Keith looked at his mom's face searching for any sign of life. her eyes slowly opened and looked at Keith. she weakly lifted a hand to touch Keith's face "my baby," she said her voice scratchy and small "you must go and find a place called camp half-blood. it is the only place where you will be safe." a tear rolled down her face. she looked behind Keith and saw the man. he gave her a smile and she smiled back. "go with this man. he will take you to camp half-blood," she pulled Keith into a hug and whispered into his ear "I love you, my sweet little boy." Keith felt more warm tears roll down his face "i love you too, mommy." she gave him a smile and kissed him on the cheek. with that her body went limp once more and stayed that way. more and more tears fell down his face and the man grabbed Keith by the shoulder's and gently pulled him away. "c'mon kid." he said. Keith stood up and pulled away from the man. he walked to his room and grabbed his jacket, his shoes and a little stuffed red lion that his mom had gotten him when he was born. he walked out of his room and walked out the apartment. he looked behind him at the mess of an apartment. shortly after, the man followed Keith out and they started walking. 

\----------

later that same day Keith learned that he was a demi-god and that the man who had saved his life was his father, ares the god of war. Keith was grateful that his dad saved his life but was mad that he didn't get there in time to save his mom. Keith held a grudge against his father for that but eventually grew out of it. Keith then went to live at camp half-blood in the ares cabin. he's lived at camp half-blood for about 11 years now and was about to turn 18 in October. while he was at camp half-blood he met an older cabin counselor, Shiro. Shiro was the head of the Zeus cabin since he was the only one living in his cabin. everyone wanted to be like Shiro. perfect. Keith has looked up to Shiro ever since he met him. Shiro was like a brother to Keith. they became best friends and they were always looking out for each other. Keith knew that he had Shiro there for him but he always felt kind of lonely. he missed his mom so much and wished that he could see her just one more time, to hug her and to feel her comforting warmth just once more. but he couldn't and this left him with an empty feeling in his heart. 

Keith got up from the table and went back to his cabin to get ready for sword practice. he grabbed his sword from his bed and headed to the arena to get in some extra practice before everyone else got there. when he got there he saw the one person he hoped he didn't need to see today, lance McClain. "what are you doing here?" he asked with a sneer on his face. lance looked up and glared at Keith. "seriously?" he complained in his usual whiny tone "of all the cabins it had to be the ares cabin?" he said and groaned. "yeah well i don't like it anymore than you do." Keith said and sat down as far away as possible from lance. they sat in silence until the rest of Keith's cabin arrived. Keith was the head counselor of his cabin since he had been at cam half-blood the longest. he stood up and instructed everyone to get into pairs and to start fighting. everyone paired up and of course the only one left was lance. "lance you're with me." Keith said and got into his sword fighting position. lance rolled his eyes and walked over to where Keith was. they circled each other, eyeing the opponents moves carefully. Keith made the first move and lunged out at lance striking at his opening on his right side. lance barely blocked the hit and stumbled on his feet a bit. Keith took this moment and advanced on lance. before Keith could hit, lance got Keith in an area he left open, giving him a nice little cut. lance smirked at this and striked again but missed this time. Keith parried his sword and pushed forward. lance stood his ground and pushed back toward Keith, his feet dragging in the dirt kicking up a cloud of dirt around them. after a while of pushing back and forth Keith suddenly stepped backward and lance stumbled. Keith then hit lance a couple times giving him some small cuts on his left forearm and pushed lance into the dirt with the butt of his sword. lance fell down and watched as his sword scattered away from him. he looked up at Keith who had the tip of his sword inches away from lances face. after catching breathe, Keith put his sword away in its sheath and extended a hand out towards lance to help him up. lance grabbed his hand and stood up. "thanks." he said and dusted off his clothes. Keith nodded and wiped off the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "you're not half bad," Keith said giving lance a small smile "but you're still not good either." lance scoffed at this "whatever" and walked over to pick up his sword from where it had landed. he picked it up and walked back over to Keith. he was bleeding from where Keith had cut him. "you should probably go get that looked at." Keith said. "yeah." lance replied and left the arena. Keith told everyone else to switch and to pair up with someone new. they practiced for the rest of their time in the arena and then left to go do a different activity. as Keith left the arena he heard someone call out his name. he looked around to see who it was and saw his friend Shiro and the activities director, Chiron. he was a centaur which meant that the upper half of his body was that of a mans but the lower half was the bottom of a dark brown horse. Chrion had shown Keith around the camp when he first arrived here. he was very kind and helped Keith whenever he needed it especially after his moms death. Keith walked over to them "what's up?" he asked, resting a hand on his hip. Shiro didn't have his usual smile but instead a very serious look on his face. this kind of worried Keith. "we must talk, but not here. follow me." Chiron said and walked off toward the big house. Keith did as he wast old and followed him. 

\----------

They reached the big house and went into an area where there were a couple couches and a fire pit in the wall that was lit even though it was summer. Chiron was in his wheel chair that he used to pass of as human. Keith took a seat on one of the couches and was followed by Shiro who sat down next to him. "what's wrong?" Keith said breaking the silence that had fallen over them. "Chiron and i were talking about something that we just found out," Shiro said looking at Keith "you're dad, Ares, his sword was stolen by some monsters and that mean's one of his kids must go on a quest to retrieve it." no one said anything for a little bit till Chiron spoke up "we knew it had to be a child of ares and we thought who better than you?" Chiron said looking at the fire. Keith nodded "does this mean that i have to go up to the attic and ask the oracle?" he asked. "yes, my boy." Chiron said. Keith turned to look at Shiro, who nodded and encouraged Keith to go. Keith stood up and started walking up the many flights of stairs that led to the attic.

Keith reached the top of the stairs and found the attic. he opened the small door the led to the room where they held the oracle. the room was full of little trinkets and spoils of war from past quests. across the room sat an old mummified woman who was dressed up as a hippie. most people didn't like coming up here but Keith didn't really mind. he walked over to the mummy and asked his question "how do i find my fathers, ares, sword and who must i take to accompany me and to complete this quest?" he patiently waited for an answer and then green smoke started pouring out of the mummies mouth. a voice rang out through his head

'you shall take one other with you,

a child of the big three,

you two shall pursue,

fight the dangers that are presented to you,

and return the sword to the god of war.'

with that the smoke disappeared and Keith left the room. he walked down the flight of stairs and found Shiro and Chiron right where he had left them. Shiro looked up as Keith descended the stairs. Keith stepped off from the last stair and went to go sit down next to Shiro. he sat there in silence thinking. the oracle said that a child of the big three must accompany him. that means that he can bring Shiro along with him. "so what did the oracle say?" Shiro asked. Keith turned to look at him then Chiron. "the oracle said: 

you shall take one other with you,

a child of the big three,

you two shall pursue,

fight the dangers that are presented to you,

and return the sword to the god of war."

Shiro turned to look at Chiron then back to Keith. Keith decided to ask what had been on his mind since the oracle gave him the prophecy "it said 'a child of the big three', that means you can come with me Shiro. i mean will you?" he asked. instead of smiling and saying yes, Shiro shook his head "no, i can't. i'm sorry Keith." Keith was surprised "wait what do you mean no?" he said. Shiro sighed "i mean, the camp needs me and i can't leave right now. you know all about the monster attacks that we've been having here at camp. i just can't leave. i'm so sorry." Keith looked down at his feet. "yeah you're right, but then who else can i take along with me?" Chiron and Shiro exchanged looks "you can take lance." Chiron said. Keith looked up in disbelief. "with all due respect sir, i cannot go on a quest with that- that idiot!" Keith practically shouted. he crossed his arms and gave an annoyed look. "no i know you two don't get along very well but you must put your differences aside and do this for the sake and safety of your fellow campers." Chiron said, moving over to Keith. he put a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith let out a sigh "fine. i'll go and ask him." he got up and left the big house to find lance.


	3. Chapter 3

After lance had left the infirmary he decided to go down to the beach to try and catch some waves. he changed into some blue swim trunks and grabbed his surf board. he left his cabin and made his way to the beach. on the way there he noticed some girls who were giggling because lance was shirtless and he winked at them "hey ladies." he said, making them blush and giggle even more. he jogged the rest of the way and finally felt the sand in between his toes. he walked towards the shore line and sat down for a little bit. he closed his eyes and took in the fresh and salty smell of the air. he loved this smell, as a matter of fact it was his most favorite smell in the entire world. he stood up and picked up his board and headed out into the water.

the waves weren't that big but lance didn't mind. he didn't really need any waves, he just wanted to be in the water. he paddled out pretty far and laid down on his back, looking up at the sky. the weather was perfect, as it always was. he let his arms go limp and let them drag in the water. he wasn't afraid that something would try to attack him because he was a son of Poseidon which meant he could communicate with any and all sea life. he felt the water on his back, it was cold but it felt good. the water went over him and onto his chest, covering his tan skin. he lied there staring at the sky. he thought about his upcoming birthday, his family, his home. once he turned 18 he would be able to leave camp and see his family again. he's thought about this countless times. he's also thought about the danger he'd be putting his family in if he went back home. he wanted to go home but had to think of the safety of his family. his chest felt tight, he really missed them. he felt a warm tear roll down his cheek as he thought of them. he sat back up and paddled out into the water a bit further. 

After Keith left the big house he went to go look for lance. he looked for him in the archery range, around the stables, the arts and crafts area, and the pavilion but found no lance. then he thought of one place he would be, the beach. Keith walked in the direction of the beach and saw lance out in the water. he walked onto the sand and watched lance in the water. he looked so peaceful and as much as Keith didn't like him he would hate to disturb him. demi-gods never really get to have peaceful moments since they have to literally fight for their lives every second of the day. Keith decided to sit down near the shore line and took off his shoes. he rolled up his pants, revealing his pale skin, and let his feet be covered in water. he felt the sand in his hands. it was warm from the sun. he watched lance lie there on his board, floating on water. his tan skin caught Keith's attention more than he'd like to admit. sure he and lance were rivals but that didn't mean they hated each other. Keith didn't want to admit it but he kind of has a crush on lance. this crush developed when Keith and lance first met. sure it wasn't the best first impression but Keith has always this feeling towards lance. it's an extremely small crush but it's there. there was this small little tugging sensation in his gut when he was around lance and his heart didn't exactly skip a beat but he did want to be closer to him. 

Keith knew this would never happen though. he wouldn't be able to be as close to lance as he'd like both emotionally and physically. he came to terms with this a long time ago. now he hasn't given up on it, it's just that he doesn't want to get his hopes up. he's seen lance flirt with practically every girl in camp so he's kind of given off the impression that he's more than likely straight. Keith snapped out of his thoughts and noticed that lance was coming back to shore. he stood up and walked towards the shore line to greet lance and ask him about the quest.

he decided to go back to shore since it was almost time for his archery practice, not that he was any good. as he was padding back he noticed someone sitting in the sand. as he got closer he recognized the haircut the person had. it was mullet boy, Keith. he finally reached the shore and walked to where he was. Keith had gotten up and walked to meet lance halfway. "hey lance." Keith said looking at lance, but this time with no look of disgust or annoyance surprisingly. this made lance raise an eyebrow "are you ok?" he asked. Keith gave lance a questioning look "well i mean you didn't give any look like you hated me." lance said. Keith shrugged his shoulders "whatever i need you to come with me. we need to talk." he said and started walking towards the cabins, not even looking back to see if lance was following him. "hey wait!" lance said and ran after Keith.

\----------

they had reached he cabins and went to lance's. lance walked in first and went to put away his surfboard. after that he went to his closet and picked out an orange camp half-blood t-shirt and a pair of jeans. he went to the bathroom and quickly changed out of his swim trunks. he put on his shirt as he walked out of the bathroom and found Keith staring. when Keith noticed that lance saw him staring he quickly looked away and cleared his throat. lance didn't really think anything of it and walked over to sit on his bunk.Keith was sitting on the bed across form lance's. "so what did you want to talk about?" lance asked. Keith looked up at him "well earlier today Chiron and Shiro pulled me aside and told me that my father's sword was stolen." he said. lance furrowed his eyebrows "ok.... what does any of this have to do with me? why did you want to talk me?" Keith took a deep breathe "after we finished talking i went up to the attic to ask the oracle about the quest and it said that i need to take a child of the big three with me. i asked Shiro if he would go but he can't leave the camp because of the recent monster attacks. now i don't have a singe clue as to why i would need a child of the big three to come with me, but the oracle said so." lance looked at Keith with a little bit of surprise on his face. "so will you go on this quest with me?" Keith asked. lance didn't respond, but instead sat there with a mystified look. "oh c'mon lance! it's not like i'm asking you out on a date." Keith said and immediately blushed. he looked down hoping lance wouldn't see his blushing face.

Keith looked backup at lance when he felt that his face wasn't burning anymore. lance finally snapped out of it and decided to answer "yes. yeah ok i'll go with you on the quest, but only because the oracle said that you needed a child of the big three." Keith let out a breathe that he didn't know he was holding. "really? oh my gods, i honestly thought you were gonna say no." he said, standing up. lance furrowed his eyebrows at Keith "yeah whatever." Keith started walking towards the door, but turned around to face lance "hey- uh thanks for saying yes. i really appreciate it." he gave lance a small genuine smile and walked out the door. 

lance sat on the bed thinking about what he just agreed to do. he just said yes to going on a quest, for who knows how long, with someone he couldn't stand for more than 5 minutes! lance let his head fall into his hands. he rubbed his hands over his face and after a while got up from his bed and started walking to the archery range.

\----------

lance reached the archery range and saw hunk and pidge sitting at a picnic table near the archery range. he walked over to them and sat down. he immediately dropped his head into his arms "hey lance." pidge said not even bothering to look at him. they were to busy reading a book despite being dyslexic. Hunk saw that lance had his head down "you ok buddy?" he asked, worry filling his voice. "oh he's fine, he's just being a drama queen." pidge said looking up from their book. lance just groaned and slowly lifted his head up from the table "i'm not being a drama queen," he said shooting pidge a look "it's just that i was asked by Keith to go on a quest with him and i had no other choice but to say yes because Shiro can't go with him!" he dropped his head back onto the table and groaned. "aw c'mon bud it can't be that bad." lance lifted his head up "yes it can be! i'm gonna be stuck on a quest with Keith. Keith! i can barely stand him for more than five seconds and now i have to travel with him and try not to get killed!" hunk shook his head at himself "so when do you guys leave?" pidge asked. "i'm assuming at dawn tomorrow, which means i should probably start packing soon." lance replied "yeah that's a good idea." pidge said going back to read their book. hunk nodded in agreement and stood up "looks like it's our turn for archery practice." they all got up and walked over to pick out their bows and started shooting at near and far targets.

practice ended and lance headed to his cabin to pack a bag. he grabbed his grey backpack from the closet and packed two outfits, a brush, some shampoo and conditioner, and body wash. he decided to go to the camp store to get some golden drachmas, drachmas were the currency used in the Greek world. he got some from a Hermes kid who was running the store that day. lance grabbed a few more things like snacks and some water bottles. he put everything in his bag and headed to his cabin. when he got back to his cabin, the horn for lunch sounded so he left his bag on his bed and made his way to pavilion for lunch. he arrived and sat at his table, waiting to be served. the nymph showed up out of thin air and served lance a plate of pizza with a side of hot wings and a cup of fruit punch juice. lance smiled at the nymph and she disappeared into thin air once again. he was about to start eating when he heard someone blowing a small horn. everyone turned their attention to where the noise had come from. standing up in full form was Chiron. he looked around at everyone to make he had gotten their attention. he then cleared his throat and started speaking "hello campers! i'm only going to take up a little of your time so if you would please listen to me as i have some important news to tell," everyone stopped talking "as some of you may know, ares's sword was stolen. this is a very serious matter because this very sword can be extremely dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands." lance heard the other campers gasping and whispering "but you all needn't worry as Keith Kogane of the ares cabin has accepted this quest and has gotten Lance McClain of the Poseidon cabin, to accompany him on this quest!" he announced cheerfully. everyone started cheering and lance saw that the ares table was going crazy slapping Keith on the back or smiling at him and Keith was actually smiling through all of this. everyone else was cheering and clapping for the both of them. 

Chiron got everyone to calm down. everyone started eating and was now talking more than before. lance started eating his own food and finished. he got up from his table and made his way back to his cabin. he went inside his cabin and sat on his bed. he looked over at his bag that was sitting next to him, he reached over and pulled it toward him. he unzipped it and double checked to make sure he had everything he needed. he zipped it back up and set it on the floor. he got up and walked over to his dresser and pulled out a sketch book and pencil. no one knew that lance likes to sketch, not even pidge or hunk. lance always liked drawing ans sketching, it was something that he picked up from his mom. she was an amazing artist and encouraged lance to draw and make art. lance could sketch just about anything. he went to make sure that his cabin door was locked, that way no one could walk in on him sketching. now he wasn't necessarily ashamed of it but didn't really want to share it with anyone just yet. it was something that he held dear to his heart and was something extremely persona to him. it had been something that he shared with his mom and just wasn't ready to share it with anyone quiet yet. 

he walked back over to his bed and sat crossed legged on it. he set the sketch pad on one knee and flipped to a new page. he took his pencil and started drawing. sketching was another thing that helped lance think and relax. he let his pencil fly across the page, creating lines and designs. he wanted to draw how he was feeling in that moment, confused and happy. sure these were a weird mix of emotions but they made sense to him. the only thing that would make sense with these emotions was the ocean. it was always moving and making waves as if it were happy but at the same time confused and not sure where to go. that's how lance felt at times, usually when he was alone. he didn't really like being alone because that meant he had to be alone with his thoughts, he always thought too much. he started drawing the ocean. he felt that he emotions fit perfectly with it. he finished the sketch and started shading and coloring it. he made the water look like it was sparkling, the exact way he saw it. he finished that and got up to put it away in its usual hiding spot. before he could he decided not to, instead he put it in his bag and set the bag in a corner. he didn't want to leave it, especially if he didn't make it back. it's not because if he died he would be ashamed if someone found it, but because he didn't want to leave something that meant so much to him, that carried so many memories, behind. he put his pencil and eraser in the bag too and checked the time, 2:45. he decided to take a nap since he still had a couple hours to kill before capture the flag started.

he crawled onto his bed and lied his head down on the pillow. he wasn't physically tired but he was mentally, especially after finding out that he's going on a quest and could quite possibly get killed. his eyes didn't immediately close but after a while they did. he started to dream and it wasn't a good one either. 

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he found himself standing somewhere. he wasn't exactly sure as to where he was but it was very hard to see through all the debris that was floating around. the debris had covered the sun so there was very little light. lance noticed that his heart was beating fast extremely fast. he was frantically searching through all the debris as if he were looking for someone or something. then he heard a voice call out his name. his head snapped in the direction the noise had come from. he didn't recognize the voice but the lance inside the dream did. he got up and started running toward the voice but was immediately met by a sharp pain. he tripped and fell to ground, falling on his side. he needed to get to this person and nothing was going to stop him. as he tried to get up he felt something warm roll down his cheek. he touched it hoping it wasn't blood, but instead found that he was crying. he looked down at his right leg, where the pain had come from, and saw a long and deep cut gushing blood, but instead of treating his wound he got back up and started limping in the direction of the voice. the voice called his name out again and this time it was closer. he tried limping as fast as he could and soon enough the shape of a body lying on the ground came into view. as he got closer he noticed that pieces of debris had covered the body. the person was severely injured and this made lance's heart beat even faster. he got next to the body and dropped down on his knees. he ignored the pain coming from his leg and reached out for the body.

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just as he was about to pick the body up his dream stopped and he bolted upright in his bed.he was sweating and breathing heavily when he woke up. his heart was racing just like it was in his dream. he took deep breathes to calm himself down. who was that person? why was his heart racing and why was he so worried about the person? so many questions were racing through lance's head. he just took a deep breathe and got off his bed. he checked the time, 5:00. oh shit! he thought as he scrambled to the door of his cabin. it's time for dinner and as if on cue the horn blew and lance ran towards the pavilion, praying he wasn't the only person late.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith was already at the pavilion before anyone else was. he was messing with his knife, moving it between his fingers. he usually did this when he was thinking. he was thinking about where he would have to go to get his fathers sword back. he was thinking about how they would get to where they needed to. he didn't know why but he had a feeling that the sword was somewhere along the west coast but for all he knew he could be wrong. he had this gut feeling about the swords whereabouts because after all it was his father's sword. he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard all the other kids coming to the pavilion for dinner. his siblings greeted him and sat down. Keith didn't really feel like talking so he just nodded and kept messing with his knife. the nymphs served their plates and everyone started eating. while they ate Chiron announced that they would be having a game of capture the flag in honor of Keith and lance leaving for their quest tomorrow. everyone cheered and finished eating. 

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after his table finished they all went back to their cabin and get their gear on for capture the flag. everyone grabbed their weapons. Keith decided to take his knife instead of his sword, he could use some practice with his up close combat. he put on his helmet and chest plate, double checked that he had his knife, and left the cabin to go to the edge of the woods. everyone met in a spot in front of the woods where they would be sorted into their teams. the ares cabin won the last game so they got their flag and were teamed up with the Hermes cabin, the Athena cabin, the Apollo cabin, the Aphrodite cabin, the Hephaestus cabin, the hypnos cabin, and the nemesis cabin. not a bad team but to be honest Keith already knew that the Aphrodite cabin won't be much help or the hypnos cabin. the hypnos kids will be sleeping for half the time and the Aphrodite kids will be checking their reflections. at least they had the Apollo cabin and Athena cabin. most of the Apollo kids were great shots and the Athena kids were great strategists. since they got these cabins that means the other team has the Poseidon cabin, the Zues cabin, the Nike cabin, the tyche cabin, the Hecate cabin, the Hebe cabin, the Demeter cabin, and the iris cabin. they seemed like a good bunch too so this was going to be a good game. Keith's team headed to their side of the woods and set their flag on Zeus's fist. the kids from the Hephaestus cabin set up traps with the Hermes kids, the Athena cabin started mapping out the forest and discussing a plan to get the other team's flag, a couple of the Aphrodite kids stood guard with some of the nemesis kids and a couple from the ares cabin. Keith was with the offense team which meant that he had to try and get the flag. they had a plan and started moving out. Keith shouted out to the defense team to keep a close eye out for anyone trying to get to the flag, then started running towards the other side of the forest.

Keith had to sneak around some of the other team's guards. he was trying his best to sneak around when he saw a blur of a person running towards his team's side of the woods. shit! he turned around and started running towards the person. he knew that the offense team would be fine to get the flag without him. he started gaining on the person and tackles them. as they rolled in a tangle of limbs Keith heard something snap and the next thing he knew he was suspended in the air in a net. damn it, the Hephaestus kids placed this. "stop moving!" Keith said, a bit pissed off.after fussing around in the net the person calmed down and stopped moving "Keith?" the person asked. Keith recognized the voice and looked down at who he was laying on top of. lance. his eyes went wide and so did lance's. shit shit shit! he was lying on top of lance. Keith started screaming inside of his head and not out loud because he didn't want to attract any of the monsters from inside the woods. Keith felt his face start to burn. he couldn't move even if he wanted to. oh gods he really hoped no one saw them and that they could find way to get out of this. Keith didn't want to take out his knife because then he might cut both of them. they lied there together trying to find a way out, till they heard a noise. it was foot steps and they were coming in their direction. then they were right underneath them. they both looked down to find Shiro, hunk, and pidge staring up at them trying to suppress their smiles. Keith's face turned tomato red. "you guys seem to be in a bit of a predicament." Shiro said. "yeah don't you think?" Keith responded his voice cracking a bit. pidge walked to the side where they could face lance and raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a smirk "wow you work fast lance." hunk started laughing but immediately stopped. "yeah yeah, laugh all you want, just please hurry up and get us out!" lance said. Shiro grabbed his sword and quickly cut the rope that was holding them. they fell to the ground, still on top of each other. Keith scrambled off of lance and stood up dusting his clothes off. his face was still burning so he avoided looking at anyone. 

"enough talking we should really get back to the game." Keith said and gave lance a look that meant he better run and he better run fast. lance saw this and started running towards the area where the flag was, Keith right at his heels. Shiro caught up and was running with lance while trying to prevent Keith from tackling lance and stopping him. Keith's armor felt heavy while he was running but didn't mind the weight. they kept running till they reached Zeus's fist. lance started scrambling up the rocks as the defense team was shooting arrows at him and climbing after him. shiro was blocking Keith from getting over there by fighting him with his sword. Keith took out his knife and started fighting shiro. Keith dodged all of Shiro's strikes and tried to get him but missed him. Keith felt like Shiro was the only person who really challenged Keith when it came to combat. they fought for what seemed like forever till Keith finally nicked Shiro on the leg, making him lose his balance and fall. Keith stepped around Shiro and started running towards lance who just grabbed the flag and was now at the creek checkpoint. Keith pushed himself and ran as fast as he could. he tackled lance just as he was about to cross, sending them splashing into the water, the flag skittering out of his reach. lance turned onto his back and tried to Keith off of him. he grabbed Keith's arms and tried to push him off. Keith only had to hold him down till he saw his team come to the creek. he pinned lance down and stayed there. lance started screaming for his team mates and hunk came running out of the woods from Keith's side. Keith gave lance a nasty look, lance gave him a smirk in return. hunk was about to grab the flag till pidge came over and snatched it from hunk. they started running back to their side to put the flag back on Zeus's fist. hunk ran after them leaving lance with Keith, still pinning him down. lance lifted his knee and hit Keith in the stomach, sending him rolling over on his back while clutching his stomach.

lance unsurprisingly wasn't even wet. since he was the son of Poseidon he had the ability to breathe underwater and to prevent himself from getting wet. Keith got back up and glared at lance. not a single part of him was wet but Keith was soaking. Keith was about to run to lance's side of the woods, when he saw some of his team mates running with the other team's flag. right behind them though were some of the other team's offense team. Keith ran after them and started fighting a boy from the Nike cabin. the boy had a long celestial bronze spear and cut Keith a few times, but that didn't stop him. Keith tried dodging his strikes but he kept getting hit. the kid kicked Keith to the ground and put a foot on his chest. mangling wasn't allowed so the kid just gave Keith a small cut on his cheek and left him lying on the ground. Keith's chest felt as if it were burning, he tried to stand up but wasn't able to. he groaned at the pain. he soon spotted Chiron galloping toward Keith, in full centaur form. "are you ok, my boy?" he asked as he picked up Keith and put him on his back. Keith groaned in response and Chiron took him out of the woods and to the infirmary. 

they arrived at the infirmary where an Apollo kid helped get Keith onto one of the beds. she gave Keith some nectar to drink and he immediately felt the pain subside. nectar was a drink that demi-gods drank to help heal themselves, but they couldn't have to much because then they would be in danger of becoming incinerated. the drink tasted like the red velvet cookies his mom used to make him. he drank all he could and then layed his head down on the pillow. the girl left the cup on the little dresser that was next to the bed. she opened one of the drawers and took out some neosporin and bandages. she grabbed a cotton ball, put some of the ointment on it and started spreading some on Keith's cuts. she then put a band-aid on the cut on his cheek and bandaged up a couple of the cuts on Keith's arms. after she finished she pulled the curtains on either side of Keith to give him some privacy and left to attend to another kid. Keith lied there and stared up at the ceiling till he fell asleep.

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Keith didn't really dream at all and woke up to the sound of one of the curtains moving. he opened his eyes and saw shiro standing by his bed. "shiro?" he asked. shiro looked at Keith "oh hey buddy you're awake," he said smiling "how you feeling?" he asked sitting in a chair right next to the bed. "better. what time is it?" Keith asked sitting up. "it's 6:50, almost time for lights out." Keith nodded "i need to get to my cabin so i can finish packing." he said, carefully getting up from the bed. shiro helped him up "hey Iliana i'm gonna take Keith back to his cabin since he's feeling better, that okay?" he said. "yeah no problem, good luck on your quest tomorrow Keith!" she said cheerfully. Keith gave her a small smile and left with Shiro to his cabin. they got there just as everyone was getting to bed. "thanks for helping me." Keith giving Shiro a smile. "yeah no problem, i'll be up to say goodbye to you tomorrow." Shiro said. Keith gave shiro another smile and walked into his cabin. he walked over to his bed and sat on it. his siblings were getting ready for bed themselves and he stopped one of them to ask who had won the game "we did!" she said cheering, making the whole cabin cheer along with her. Keith smiled and started taking off his armor. he grabbed a clean pj shirt and a pair of sweats. he made his way to one of the bathrooms and locked the door to change.

he didn't like changing in front of anyone because he had some pretty bad scars on his back. this quest wasn't his first. the first quest he went on he was 13. he had gone along with shiro to help him return a special artifact to the goddess Persephone. she wasn't allowed to leave the underworld and had picked shiro to go on that quest. while they were in the underworld Keith had been captured by some monsters and was tortured for a couple of days. they gave him cuts up down his back, trying to get information on where shiro was because they wanted the special artifact. Keith wouldn't give up any information and was tortured for a long time. one day he finally broke out of his chains and fought his way out. after killing most of the monsters and running away he ran into shiro who was in the dark woods, looking for Keith. they found the palace and returned the artifact to Persephone. she gave them pearls to get out of the underworld and they returned to camp half blood. the cuts healed, but they left nasty scars on Keith's back.

Keith finished changing and washed his face. he dried his face with a towel and left the bathroom. he made his way to his bed and got under the covers. he was going to need all the sleep he could get because tomorrow he would be leaving n his quest with lance. he wasn't sure when the next time he would be able to sleep. he closed his and immediately fell asleep.

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when demi-gods dreamed most of the time they weren't pleasant. when Keith had fallen asleep he was taken somewhere. he was in a place where the air was filled with ash and debris. he could barely see the sun as he was walking. his heart was pounding in his chest, but he wasn't sure why it was. he kept walking searching for someone or something till he tripped on something. he fell to the ground and he heard something crumbling. he looked around to find what was left of a building was about to fall on him. he tried to move his legs but he couldn't. as Keith struggled to stand up he saw giant piece of concrete fall not to far from him. soon more and more kept falling till most of his lower body was under heavy pieces of concrete. one had fallen on top of his arm sending pain up and down his arm. he couldn't move and this scared him because he knew that danger was very close. he opened his mouth to call out for someone but couldn't hear his own voice. he kept calling and calling for someone. eventually he saw a figure through the ashy air but passed out from all the pain and exhaustion he felt before he could see who it was.

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Keith woke up to the sound of his watch beeping. he checked the time, 5:00 am. he got out of bed and quickly changed into his usual pair of black jeans, black t-shirt, his jacket and his shoes. he grabbed his bag and stopped in front of the door. he looked back at all of his siblings still sleeping. he took in the rest of his cabin, this may be the last time he saw it. he opened the door and silently closed it behind him, walking towards the pavilion. he and lance had agreed to meet at the pavilion. he got there and to his surprise lance was already there. lance looked up and saw Keith towards him. he stood up and shouldered his bag on. "you ready?" he asked. Keith nodded and they started walking up the hill to where a van was waiting to take them into the city. when they got to the top they found Shiro and Chiron waiting there. Shiro gave Keith a small smile, Keith returned it. "well boys this is where we bid farewell." Chrion said walking towards lance, placing a hand on his shoulder "thank you, lance, for agreeing to go on this dangerous quest with Keith." Chiron gave lance a hug and walked over to Keith "my boy, be safe and take care of each other." he said and gave Keith a hug. Keith nodded and Chiron left without another word. Shiro came up to Keith and gave him a hug "please be safe out there Keith." he whispered in his ear. Keith felt his eyes burn as if he were about to cry. he and Shiro were extremely close and Shiro had treated Keith as if he were his own brother. Shiro had went out of his way to take care of Keith since he had arrived at camp half blood and now they were saying good bye because this may be the last time they saw each other. Keith loved shiro like a brother. he hugged Shiro back and didn't want to let go. they pulled apart and Shiro gave Keith one more smile. Keith smiled back and started walking towards the van as Shiro said good bye to lance. lance caught up with Keith and the got into the van.

the driver, Argus, started driving down the road and into the city. they arrived at a bus stop and got off. Argus was only allowed to drive them into the city and no farther. they waved good bye to Argus as he drove back to camp. they took a seat at the bus stop and Keith took out some mortal money. he counted how much they had, 30 dollars. he took 5 and put the rest away. they sat there and waited for the bus to arrive. "so where are going?" lance asked breaking the silence. "i'm not exactly sure but i know we're gonna have to go west." he said. lance's eyes went wide "dude do you how far that is? we're gonna need to find a car or something because i know we won't be able to travel only by bus! we don't have enough." Keith rolled his eyes "we'll figure something out, but for now we take the bus." lance furrowed his eyebrows and looked down at his shoes. the bus arrived. they paid the driver and found some seats in the back. Keith took the window seat and lance sat in the seat next to him. the bus started moving, making its way out of the city.


	5. Chapter 5

lance and Keith sat in silence the whole drive. lance wanted to ask Keith what they were going to do but Keith didn't really look like he wanted to talk, so lance just left him alone. he looked around the bus. there weren't may other people there, just an old man sitting near the front, a couple of girls around lance's age who were giggling and looking at him, and a woman who looked to be around her late 20's. lance looked down at his shoes. he didn't really have anything to do since Keith didn't want to talk and he didn't want to take out his sketch book so he just stared at his shoes. he thought about how crazy Keith was to say they were gonna basically 'wing it'! like what the Hades, you can't go on a quest and not have a plan. but he didn't feel like arguing with Keith about this so he just stayed quiet. he decided to take a little nap while they waited for the bus to leave the city.

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lance didn't dream anything bad, in fact it was a fantastic dream! he was home with his family. he had a younger brother and sister who were twins, an older sister, and an older brother. the twins were running around on the beach and were splashing in the water. lance was on the beach burying his older brother with his older sister. his mom was sitting under an umbrella sketching the ocean just as lance had the day before. he finished burying his brother and almost immediately his brother broke out of the sand and started chasing lance toward the water. lance ran into the water and tried to get away from his brother while laughing hysterically. the twins came and joined the game. they all started chasing each other. lance grabbed his little brother, Lucas, and started spinning around with him. they spun around till lance became dizzy and fell back into the water. Lucas had a big toothless smile on his face. Lucas's twin, Isabella, came toward them with their older brother, Carlos. the lance inside the dream felt happy. happy to be with his siblings, to be with his mom, to be on the beach that he grew going to. then just like that the dream shifted to dark. all lance could see was pitch black.

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lance felt someone shaking his shoulders and his eyes flew open. it was Keith "c'mon, we're at our stop." he said. lance put his bag on and started walking down the aisle, Keith in tow. they got off the bus and lance saw that they were far away from the city. there were hardly any buildings to be seen and in their place were golden fields that reached as far as lance could see. "where do we go now?" he asked, looking at Keith. Keith didn't respond and just started walking up the road. lance followed Keith, not wanting to be left behind. "hey!" he said and grabbed Keith's shoulder, pulling him back. "what are we gonna do now?" he asked again. Keith looked at him with little annoyance on his face "just follow me." he said and continued walking down the road. lance was starting to become more annoyed at this point but followed Keith anyway.

they walked for what felt like forever till they came across a gas station. lance felt relieved at the sight. Keith walked towards it and sat on the sidewalk, in front of it. lance sat down next to him and let out a sigh. Keith started riffling through his bag looking for something. he took out a water bottle and opened it, taking a drink. lance did the same. they sat in silence for a while till Keith broke it "we have to go west," he put his water bottle away "that's where we're headed." lance looked up at Keith "ok, we know where we're headed but, how do we get there?" lance asked. Keith looked at lance, his blue-grey eyes that were filled with concentration "i don't know yet but i'm sure we'll find something." lance looked away and looked around. there were more fields but they had gotten greener. lance's legs felt like jelly after all that walking and was looking forward to walking again. Keith stood up and put his water bottle away in his bag and stood up "we should keep walking before anything starts to pick up our scent." lance stood up and they started walking down the road once again. they walked as fast as they could because if a monster within a ten mile radius did pick up their scent then they could find them any second. they kept walking till the sun started to go down.

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while they were walking they had found a small town. they found a way to rent out a room in a motel. they walked to their room and lance unlocked it. they dropped their bags onto the floor next to the door and lance walked over to the little couch and flopped down onto it. his legs felt numb and he was ready to pass out. he was grateful that they hadn't run into any monsters along the way. he heard Keith go into the bathroom and then the shower running. lance stared at the ceiling thinking about what they had to do next to get west. He knew how to drive a car so maybe if they found one they could use that. 

He kept thinking of different ways of transportation till his head started to hurt. Keith was still in the bathroom showering, so lance turned the tv on. He flicked through the few channels they had and decided on a black a white movie about Sherlock Holmes. His eyelids felt heavy but he didn't want to sleep yet, the movie was starting to get good. He tried to stay awake but his eyelids betrayed him and he felt asleep to the background noise of the tv blaring.

lance woke up the next morning to a knock on the door followed by a voice saying "house keeping!" he was about to get up when he noticed that there was a blanket on him. 'That's weird' he thought. he didn't remember going to sleep with a blanket last night. he let the thought go and got up but didn't answer the door. he heard footsteps recede down the hallway after a few moments. he needed to use The bathroom so he walked across the room and closed the door behind him. After using the bathroom he washed his hands and then his face to try and wake himself up. he went to grab his toothbrush and toothpaste to brush his teeth. After brushing his teeth he dried his face and hands with a towel from the motel and walked out of the bathroom. Keith was up now sitting on the edge of the bed putting his shoes on. "morning." lance said as he walked past Keith. "morning." Keith responded, standing up from the bed. he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. lance noticed that Keith had been really quiet this whole time since they left camp half-blood. sure he had spoken a few times but not as much as usual, they hadn't even argued once! oddly enough this made lance a bit worried about Keith. a couple minutes later Keith walked back out. he walked over to where his bag was and picked it up, putting it on. lance wanted to ask him if he was ok but knew that Keith probably wasn't going to respond. lance grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Keith opened the door and walked out. lance followed him and they started walking towards the motel office to return the key. Keith waited out side while lance dropped the key off at the counter. he walked back out towards Keith who looked like he was thinking. "Keith?" Lance asked as he waved a hand in frontbencher of his face. "Huh?" Keith said looking at lance "you ok man?" Keith furrowed his eyebrows at lance"yeah why wouldn't I be?" Lance shrugged his shoulders "well I don't know. It's just that since we left camp all you've said we're a couple of sentences. You haven't even told me if you had a plan or not? Like seriously man if we're gonna survive and complete this quest there has to be some sort of communication going on here!" Lance moved his hands in a motion between him and Keith. Keith sighed and looked down then back up at lance "yeah you're right i guess," he said and lance gave him a smirk "but don't let that go to your head." Keith said crossing his arms. lance rolled his eyes "whatever let's just go into town and find something to eat." he said and started walking into the small town. they found a diner and went in to get something to eat. the waitress led them to a booth and they sat down, handing them their menus. lance looked it over and decided on some eggs, bacon, and waffles. the waitress came back and asked what they wanted to drink. lance thought she was pretty cute and started flirting with her. he looked at her "did it hurt when you fell from heaven?" he asked, earning a giggle and a smile. lance smirked and the waitress left to get their drinks. he looked at Kieth who had an annoyed look on his face. "what?" lance asked Keith arched an eyebrow "nothing it's just why must you flirt with everything and anything that moves and breathes?" lance scoffed "well i'm sorry if i can't help if everyone else is pretty and you're not." he said. he saw a flash of pain cross over Kieth's face, but it was gone as soon as it was there. Keith rolled his eyes and continued looking at his menu. the waitress returned with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. lance ordered first and noticed that the waitress had a faint blush forming on her face. after lance finished Keith ordered and the waitress left to give their orders. 

they sat in silence as they waited for their food to arrive. eventually the waitress came back with their food and they both started eating. lance practically scarfed all his food within minutes. Keith gave him a disgusted look "if you eat any faster your gonna eat the table." lance rolled his eyes "i'm starving so shut up." and continued eating. Keith scrunched his nose and continued eating. they finished eating and asked for the check. Keith paid and they left. they doubled checked that they had everything and started talking about how they were gonna get west. lance suggested taking another bus but Keith said it was going to cost more money that they didn't exactly have. Keith decided on walking and using a map. lance complained about walking again but Keith wasn't having it, so lance kept complaining but walked anyway. after walking for what felt like forever lance realized that they weren't in New York anymore. the scenery had changed from tall buildings to more fields of green and lots more trees. it was beautiful lance thought as they continued walking. they eventually came across a sign that said 'welcome to Pennsylvania!'. "ok so we're obviously no longer in New York, let's take a break." he said. lance, grateful for the break, practically collapsed onto the ground. Keith sat down next to lance. they were sitting on the side of the road in the grass and probably looked like a couple of hitchhikers. lance took out his water bottle and drank half of it. Keith did the same and they continued sitting there. lance felt like he wanted to pass out. his legs felt like jelly and he didn't think he'd be able to stand up.

they'd sat there in silence when lance heard some sort of weird hissing noise "what the?" he said, looking around for the source of the noise. the hissing was getting louder as if it were getting closer and at this point Keith was looking around as well. "where's that coming from?" Keith asked. lance shrugged his shoulders and within seconds Keith was on his feet, sword out. there was a forest of trees right behind them and lance could see something moving through them. lance put his stuff away and got up. he took out his own sword and looked at Keith. "do you see it?" he asked. Keith nodded "yeah let's start walking, hopefully it won't notice us." they quickly started walking down the road while keeping an eye on the forest. as they ran lance noticed the field was empty and so was the road, this was going to make spotting them easier now. great! lance stopped running and looked as the monster came out from the trees. it had 5 heads and lance knew what monster this was, it was a freaking hydra. of all the monsters it had to be a hydra! he cursed the heavens and looked at Keith. Keith had seen the monster too and looked like he was thinking. "so how are we doing this?" lance asked.

"we're gonna run at it." Keith said and ran after the hydra. Lance tried to protest but followed Keith anyway. the hydra had spotted them and was now running toward them. lance felt his heart racing as he ran. Keith had gotten only a few feet from the hydra when it spat acid from one of it's head at him. he jumped back and the acid barely missed him. "shit!" he shouted and backed up even more. lance followed his example and backed up. "it spits acid and has more than one head? seriously?!" Keith said. lance nodded, keeping his eyes on the hydra. "i remember from the monster lessons that if you cut off one head two more grow in its place," lance said "i also remember that Hercules used fire to prevent the heads from growing back." the heads started snapping out toward them, spitting acid in the process. they jumped and dodged the acid as fast as they could but some of it got on Keith's leg. lance heard him give a short cry of pain but he kept moving.

"So we need fire? Where the hell are we gonna find fire?" Keith shouted. Lance thought about it. He was right where the heck were they gonna find fire! lance stabbed the monster a few times but it wasn't doing anything. they kept stabbing and dodging but they weren't going to able to keep this up for long. lance heard Keith screaming and groaning in frustration as they kept trying to fight the hydra. 

as lance kept stabbing he realized that if they didn't have fire and if they weren't able to run fast enough away from it, this was how they were going to die. they hadn't eve made anywhere near west and lance didn't get to see his family. this made lance more pissed and he started stabbing faster and faster. Keith must've gotten hit again because he screamed and fell to the ground. the hydra focused its attention on Keith and started getting closer and closer. lance ran over to Keith and helped him stand up. he saw the burns on his leg and they were bad. he practically dragged Keith as they tried to get away from the hydra. they were gonna die, this was it lance thought. as they ran away as fast as they could, something happened that neither of them had expected.

Keith's hand caught on fire.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith had been frustrated with the hydra. he'd gotten hit twice trying to keep it from hurting lance. after the second hit he felt weak and tried to stand up but couldn't. lance had ran over to him and picked him up, slinging one of Keith's arms around his shoulders and putting one of his arms around Keith's waist to help him walk. at this point Keith was pissed. they didn't have any fire to kill this stupid ass hydra and were now probably going to die. Keith didn't even make it west. didn't get his father's sword and return to camp. he couldn't complete such a simple quest and he was going to die by the hands (or claws) of a hydra. they tried to run from the monster as fast as the could but the hydra was gaining on them. Keith wanted to scream, this isn't fair! then something unexpected happened, something that could save them.

his hand caught on fire.

the surprising thing wasn't the fire but rather the fact that it wasn't hurting him. holy crap! what the hell? fire? then Keith realized, he had been blessed with this fire. he'd heard of this power before. only Hephaestus had the power to bestow this blessing upon a demi-god. any who had this power was immune to fire and had the power to conjure and control it. But why Keith? why would he be given this power? all these thoughts ran through his head but he knew he'd have to think about this later. right now he had to focus on the problem at hand. lance had stopped walking and almost got acid on him if it weren't for Keith pushing him out of the way. Keith fell to the ground when he did this but immediately picked himself back up. he raised his sword and focused on keeping the fire going. he ran towards the hydra and slashed one head off. he was about to burn it but missed. now instead of having five heads, the hydra had six heads. fantastic! he couldn't do this alone. where the hell was lance! then as if lance had read his mind he saw lane cut off another head and Keith immediately burned it, making it a stub and unable to re-grow. they kept doing this till all the heads were gone and the body lay limp on the ground before them. Keith fell onto his back trying to catch his breathe. lance was sitting and panting. after they'd caught their breath the lance spoke up. "you... you have fire powers?" he asked quietly. Keith could hear the shock and surprise in his voice. he didn't blame lance he was shocked that he had these powers. 

Keith didn't respond, instead looking at his hands. there was silence. "how long have you had this?" lance asked looking at Keith almost accusingly. Keith scowled at lance "i didn't know about this till now!" lance scoffed "yeah right and i'm the president." Keith opened his mouth in surprise. was lance being serious? Keith would've told him and would've used them if he'd known. "i'm serious. i didn't know about this till my own hand caught fire!" he practically shouted. he didn't even get a thank you for saving their lives. no instead lance was accusing him of not telling him about his power. typical lance! Keith glared at lance and lance gave him a nasty look in return. Keith stood up and was reminded of his burns when he fell back to the ground. "AAGGHHH!" he screamed. lance looked at Keith then at his wounds "oh my gods! here wait I've got something." lance said as he started riffling through his bag. he pulled out a small bag and opened it, taking out a small cube of ambrosia. it was the food of the gods and demi-gods, like lance and Keith, were able to eat it to heal themselves since they were after all half god. lance gave it to Keith and Keith gratefully took it. he ate it and almost immediately the pain started to go away. "better?" lance asked and Keith nodded in response. "good." he said and went though his bag again. he took out a water bottle handing it to Keith, and a first aid kit. he took out what looked like ointment for the burns, peroxide to clean out the burns, and bandages. he started cleaning Keith's burn and then applied the ointment. after doing that he started wrapping up the parts of Keith's leg where the burns were.

the whole time lance was doing this Keith was watching his hands and how quick but graceful they were. how gentle he was with Keith and how focused he looked. when he finished he put everything away and helped Keith up. Keith tried to walk by himself but almost fell if lance hadn't caught him. lance placed one of Keith's arms around his shoulders and one of his around Keith's waist. Keith could feel his face burn and hoped lance wouldn't notice "thanks." Keith said while they started walking down the road again. "don't mention it." lance said and they walked in silence again.

after walking for who knows how long they came across a gas station with a bus stop. lance set Keith on the bench "stay here. i'm gonna go inside and get a couple things, watch out for the bus." and with that he was gone inside the the mini mart. Keith sat there and looked down the road both ways. it was empty except for the occasional car that drove by. he looked around and saw the whole landscape was covered in green. he wasn't used to this since he lived in New York and had come from Arizona. it was beautiful all the green and trees. it smelled fresh and not like the gas and smoke he was used to. after a couple minutes lance returned with snacks and drinks in hand. he handed Keith an Arizona tea and a sandwich. Keith opened his tea and drank from it. they ate their sandwiches till the bus arrived and boarded. Keith payed for their tickets and they took a seat near the next exit of the bus. the bus was going to take them at least half way across Pennsylvania and then they'd have to catch another bus to take them the rest of the way. they rode the bus with very few words exchanged between them.

Keith had finished his sandwich and was now staring at his hands. he had the ability to conjure fire as he pleased and was totally immune to it too. he thought it was really cool but also thought of how he was a literal match ready to catch fire at any given moment. he was a weapon and could use his power for good but what if something happened to where he could be controlled? what if he hurt someone innocent? someone who didn't deserve it? this just added onto his list of why he was dangerous. Keith felt tired but couldn't sleep. the thoughts just kept racing through his head. the bus stopped signaling it was time for them to get off. they found another bus that would take them all the way to Ohio. they boarded that bus next and found some seats in the back. it was starting to get dark outside now. Keith pulled his jacket around him tighter and lied his head against the window. he closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep.

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when Keith woke up it was 11:00 o'clock at night. outside was pitch black except for the car headlights shining on the road. he looked over to lance and saw that he had fallen asleep. he looked at lance's face. it was peaceful and Keith saw how his lashes rested on his cheeks. he saw the light freckles that decorated lance's face and also how he drooled. even with drool lance looked attractive. Keith was snapped out of his thoughts as lance's head lolled to the side and landed on Keith's shoulder. oh gods. when lance's head landed on Keith's shoulder he nuzzled in closer and Keith could feel his even breath on his neck. Keith's face burned so hot he thought his face was on fire. he felt his hands get warmer and looked at them. HOLY CRAP THEY WERE ON FIRE! he tried to focus on putting the fire out without disturbing lance's sleep. he put the fire out without catching anyone's attention and put them in his lap. he wanted to push lance's head off his shoulder but he also wanted it there. he let lance sleep and hoped that none of his drool would fall on him. Keith decided to try and sleep again and closed his eyes, instantly falling asleep to the soft snores coming from lance. 

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Keith didn't really dream, he only saw pitch black as he slept. when he woke up it was still dark. he realized that lance was no longer lying on his shoulder and was awake. Keith rubbed his eyes with his fists and turned to look at lance "where are we?" he asked. "still in Ohio but we're practically across the state already." he replied. Keith checked the time, 4:00 am. so he did get some sleep after all. he looked around the bus to see who was on there. the people from earlier must've gotten off because the only other people there beside them was a man and woman. they were sitting near the front of the bus so they probably couldn't see Keith and lance. Keith looked at lance who was looking out the window across the aisle. Keith didn't feel like talking and lance probably didn't either. it was still a bit awkward since the fire incident. Keith looked at his hands. he wasn't shocked anymore about this newfound power but more set on learning how to wield it better. he needed to learn how to use this. how to be able to conjure it and control it better. he focused on the fire and making it appear, then there were little flames dancing across fingers. the flames bright in the dimness of the bus light. Keith stared at the flames and focused in on the colors, the shape. he let the fire engulf his hand but kept it behind the seat so the other people on the bus wouldn't see it. he was careful not to touch lance or anything around him. 

while he looked at his hand, he felt someones gaze on him. he looked up and saw it was lance. his eyes were wide and Kieth could see the light of the fire dance around in his eyes. he didn't say anything, just stared. Keith messed with the fire and made go from one hand to the other. lance stared in memorization with a little smile tugging at his lips. they did this in silence till lance spoke up "so.....you're barely finding out about this now?" he asked. this threw Keith off and the fire snuffed out. he looked at lance "yeah. i don't know why i hadn't found out about this before now." he replied, lance nodded. "well i think it's pretty cool. you know like how i can control water, you can control fire." this made Keith smile. it wasn't a big smile, just a little tug of the lips. they rode the rest of the way in silence. Keith looked out the window as the sun started to slowly rise. it made the sky a pale yellow mixing with the dark blue of the night that still lingered. he messed around with the fire a bit more then decided to take out a book and read. he'd brought a book from the series 'the mortal instruments'. he'd found out about this book series when he was 14 and hasn't been able to stop reading them since. Shiro had given him the first book on his 14th birthday and then kept giving Keith the next one each year. Keith was barely on the 'city of glass' book this year and would be receiving 'city of fallen angels' in a few months. he started reading and noticed that he was more than halfway done with it. he didn't want the book to end but he did want to keep reading it too.

\----------

 

 

he only read a couple chapters when the bus arrived at the next stop. they had to get off now. Keith checked the time, 11:16 am. the next bus arrived at 12:00 pm so they had about an hour to kill. they decided on hanging out in the little restaurant next to the bus stop. lance ordered breakfast but Keith wasn't really hungry. while lance ate, Keith thought about why the oracle said he needed to bring a child of the big three with him. it didn't really make any sense to him but if the oracle said so then it must mean something. he kept thinking about what it could mean but couldn't come up with anything. he just watched lance eat and started ripping up the straw wrapper in little pieces. lance must've noticed something was wrong with Keith (which was a surprise since he and Keith were pretty oblivious people). "hey man, you ok?" he asked. Keith looked up with a little surprise "uh- yeah i'm fine, just thinking." lance raised an eyebrow at Keith "really? i don't believe you." he said. Keith furrowed his eyebrows "what?" lance sighed "well you have this really weird look on your face and you've started pulling at your gloves." lance said. Keith looked down at his hands and sure enough he was pulling at his finger-less glove. his face started burning. it was a nervous habit he'd picked up a few years ago and lance had noticed. he stopped pulling and looked back up at lance. "c'mon dude, just tell me what's wrong?" Keith rolled his eyes "like i wanna share my feelings with you." this made lance put his hands up in a surrendering motion "hey i'm just asking, but if you do want to talk about it i'm right here." he said and kept eating. Keith let out a small frustrated groan and pushed his chair out, making a loud scraping noise on the tile.

he practically stomped to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. he wanted to scream but he didn't know why. was it because of lance? because he'd noticed Keith's little nervous habit? because of the quest? maybe because he and lance come way to close to death? Keith gripped both sides of the sink with his hands and let his head hang. he took deep breaths and calmed himself down. he had a pretty bad temper and over the years Shiro had taught him how to control and calm himself down. "this isn't because of anyone." he told himself. he turned the water on and splashed some on his face. he looked up into the dirty mirror and saw that bags were beginning to take place under his eyes. he hadn't been getting enough sleep and was starting feel stressed out. he found some paper towels and dried his face. he left the bathroom and walked back to the table he and lance were sitting at. he sat in his chair and scooted up to the table, this time quieter than the last. lance had finished eating and had asked for the check. Keith paid and they left. it was 11:47 now. Keith and lance bought some tickets from a monster that looked like similar to an octopus. the mist made the guy look like a regular teenager but the dude actually had tentacles helping him with the crowd of people buying tickets. they were able to pay with the golden drachmas they had brought and went to sit on a bench, waiting for the bus to arrive and take them to Indiana.


	7. Chapter 7

while they waited for their bus lance decided to take out his sketch book. he almost immediately regretted it when Keith noticed and asked "you draw?". lance nodded and started drawing. he drew the bus station they were at and the people walking around. he could feel Keith's gaze on him as he drew. soon the bus arrived and lance put his sketch book away. he shouldered his backpack on and boarded the bus with Keith. they showed the bus driver their tickets and took a seat near the back again. when they sat down and settled in, lance took his sketch book out again and continued his drawing. he could Keith's gaze on him the whole time. he sketched out the bus and the people inside it. he drew the man sitting with a small cage toward the front, the lady in a business suit a couple seats in front of them and the old couple across the aisle. he drew all the little details and let all the stress leave him. 

he drew till his hand hurt. he closed his sketch book and put his things away. "wait can i see it?" he heard Keith ask. he flicked eyes to Keith "w-what?" he stuttered "can i look at your drawings?" Keith asked a little quieter. lance felt his cheeks burn. no one's ever asked to look at his sketches. granted he doesn't take it out in front of anyone really, but still. he took his sketch book back out and handed it to Keith. Keith was about to open it but lance slammed his hand on top of Keith's. he looked at Keith "don't look at it yet." he said and proceeded to take out a small iPod and headphones. Keith gave him a shocked look "where did you get that?" he asked. lance put on his trademark eat-shit grin "i brought this with me when i first got to camp. i hid it and paid pidge to fix it so it wouldn't send out any signals to any monsters." Keith's mouth hung open. lance just put his headphone's in and pressed shuffle play on his music. shakira 'hips don't lie' started playing. he nodded at Keith, giving him permission to look through the journal. he didn't look at Keith while he did this. he all of the suddenly felt embarrassed or afraid to be judged on his art. he looked out the bus window and watched as the green scenery of Indiana raced by. he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. his head was pounding. he took out his water bottle and took a long drink from it.

he laid his head back on the window and closed his eyes. 

it was the same dream again. the one where he was searching through the debris. it was right where he left off the last time. he reached the body and started moving pieces of broken building off of them. he finally removed the last piece and gently picked the person up. he got on his knees and laid their head in his lap. he didn't exactly know who it was but whoever it was he felt scared for them. he was still crying as he held the body closer to him. "you're gonna be ok, you're gonna be ok, you're gonna be ok." he whispered. suddenly a giant, shadowed, tall figure was looming over them. "you puny demi-god. just like everyone else in your life they get taken away from you. this is all your fault." the figure boomed. "NO! YOU BASTARD YOU HURT HIM! YOU DID THIS!" lance screamed out at the figure. the figure only laughed making the ground beneath lance shake. lance looked down at the body in his hands. he could feel the tears fall down faster now as he whispered "please be ok. don't leave me you're better than this. i know you can pull through." he repeated these words to then person over and over and over again. he felt a sense of impending doom as he did this.

lance woke up from Keith shaking him "hey lance we have to get off." he said. lance sat up and rubbed his eyes like a little kid. his neck hurt like hell but that's what he gets for sleeping like that. "here." Keith said and handed lance his sketch book back. lance took it and put it in his bag. they got off the bus and the whole time lance thought about the shadowed figure and the person from his dream. his dream self had yelled out to the figure 'YOU HURT HIM!' him. lance thought about who could possibly be the boy he was holding in his arms and then it hit him. Keith. Keith was the boy in his dream, the one who was hurt. lance's heart started racing because if there's anything he's learned about demi-god dreams it's that they are visions of what has yet to come. he shook his head and cleared his thoughts. he didn't want to think about it right now. while they walked lance took in the scene around him. he hadn't realized that they'd walked into an airport. "hey uh Keith, what are we doing inside an airport?" he asked. Keith looked back at lance "we're gonna take a plane?" he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. lance furrowed his eyebrows "since when were we gonna take a plane?" he asked. Keith had turned to face forward again "since i decided on the bus." lance rolled his eyes and followed Keith anyway. they reached the counter and asked for next flight to Colorado. Keith was able to pay in drachmas and mortal cash. the flight wasn't till 5:00 and it was 3:15, so they still had a good while till they had to board. they found a food stand and grabbed something to eat while they waited. 

\----------

they'd finished eating and were waiting now for their plane to be called. the speaker turned on "flight 24 to Colorado now boarding." it announced. "that's us." lance said and they put their bags on. they went through the metal detectors and luckily it didn't detect any of their weapons. they found their door and walked on. they found their seats and sat down. lance put his and Keith's bags in the storage unit above him. Lance got the window seat and Keith sat in the seat next to the aisle. the flight attendants told them to buckle up and to not get up. 

after a while the pilots announced that they were taking off and asked that the passengers stay seated and buckle up. then the plane took and into the sky they went. lance had been on a plane a couple times already. he looked out the window and watched as the clouds rolled by. he took out his iPod from his pocket and put his earbuds in. he pressed play on his music and looked out the window.

\----------

a couple hours passed and it was dark outside the window now. the moon and stars were out now. lance turned from the window and found Keith sleeping. he could hear the light snores coming from him. lance watched him and thought Keith was pretty cute when he was sleep- wait what? lance was not thinking Keith was cute. lance wasn't against liking or dating a boy and in fact he was bisexual but to think Keith was cute? what the hell was he thinking?! he must be tired or stressed or something! he turned away and realized his face was burning. was he blushing? lance groaned and let his head fall back onto the head rest. he did not like Keith. they were only friends. it's not that he hated Keith but it's the thought of liking Keith was crazy. Keith hated him. lance stared up at the ceiling of the plane. he laid his head against the window and watched as the night sky rolled by. he focused on the clouds and their shape. they looked really cool up close like this. he wanted to reach out and touch it. he imagined that if he were able to touch it, it would be really soft. he wanted to paint this but couldn't, so he took a mental picture and kept it there.

eventually his eyes grew heavy with sleep and he closed his eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

Once they were on the plane and found their seats Keith decided to read. he saw lance put his earphones in and looking out the window. after looking through his bag he found his book and started reading.

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a couple of hours passed and Keith started growing tired. when they took the buses Keith couldn't really sleep because of the way the vehicle rocked and wobbled, but now that they were on the plane and it wasn't throwing them all over the place Keith was finally able to sleep. he put his bookmark in and closed his book. he let his head rest on the headrest and closed his eyes.

All Keith could see in his dream was smoke. it was all he could breathe in and it hurt. it was the same dream where he was underneath the ruble, he was stuck. the figure was approaching him and then was right next to him. the person started moving the concrete off of him. after they managed to get the last piece off they gently picked him up and pulled him into their lap. when Keith looked up he saw the person screaming at something and then realized something. the person was lance. he tried speaking but he was too weak to say anything. his vision grew blurry and his head felt like it was spinning. he felt nauseous but pushed the feeling down in an attempt to stay tethered to reality. his attempts were futile and eventually his vision went black.

Keith opened his eyes. he felt hot and realized he was sweating. he wiped at his forehead and looked around. it was still dark outside the window and lance was sleeping now, and he was drooling too. Keith stood up and went to the bathroom. he locked the door behind him and did his business. he washed his hands and then his face. he found some paper towels and used them. he took out a watch from his pocket and checked the time, 11:47 pm. he put it back in his pocket and left the bathroom. when he opened the door he found someone else waiting to use the bathroom. he walked back to his seat and sat down. he didn't want to sleep anymore and was now a little scared of the dreams. instead he sat there and thought about the dream. lance was in it. he was the boy who helped him. the boy who was crying for him and screaming at the monster that hurt him. Keith's face started to burn a little. he quickly glanced down at his hands, making sure they weren't on fire or anything. he thought about the monster, the large shadow that had been looming over them. he wasn't able to make out any features, just the outline of it. what scared him though was that the whatever was attacking them in the dream it was strong and big enough to destroy buildings. 

he shook his head as if to empty it of those thoughts. he looked over at lance and then at the ceiling of the plane. he didn't want to read and his stomach was twisted into knots. he needed to talk to lance about this. a couple minutes later a lady came walking down the aisle with a cart full of snacks and drinks. she asked if Keith wanted anything. he didn't really feel like eating so just asked for a water. she handed him a cold water bottle and continued down the aisle of seats. he opened the bottle and took a long drink from it in attempts to cool himself down. he'd stopped sweating and felt a lot cooler now. the lady came back down the aisle and Keith stopped her to ask when they were landing. "in about 3 hours sweetie." she replied. he gave her a small smile and checked the time again, 12:06. they'd be landing at the airport around 3:00 hopefully. he decided to read his book anyway just to pass the time.

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Keith didn't know how long he'd been and if he had to guess he'd been reading for about an hour or so. he looked over and checked on lance. still asleep. he went to back to his book and kept reading.

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a little dinging noise went off and the plane's captain started speaking "hello passengers this is your captain speaking. we're about to start landing do if you could all please put your seat belts on as we prepare for landing." then a little glowing sign started flashing reading 'seat belts'. Keith did as he was told and turned to look at lance who was slowly waking up. "hey put your seat belt on." he told him. lance put it on and rubbed at his eyes. Keith looked out the window and saw lights come into view. they were in Colorado. the plane started descending and carefully landing on the runway. some enough the plane touched the ground and the flight attendants told everyone to please stay seated while the plane got ready for them to get off. after a while the flight attendants gave everyone the ok to start grabbing their stuff and leaving the plane. Keith slung his bag onto his shoulder and when he tried to walk he almost tripped. his legs felt like jelly and didn't seem to want to work. he steadied himself and continued walking. 

they got off the plane and entered the airport. it was dark outside and Keith suddenly felt really tired despite having gotten several hours of sleep on the plane. he looked at lance who seemed fine. "so now that we've landed we should probably look for a place to stay." lance said as they walked out of the airport. they walked out to the front and lance found a taxi. they piled into the back and asked the driver to take them to the closest hotel. the drive only took a couple minutes and when they arrived Keith paid the man. they got out and walked into the hotel. Keith walked to the receptionists desk and asked for a room with two beds. after filling out some information she handed him a key and sent him on his way. "let's go." he said to lance. they went into the elevator and pressed the button for their floor. the elevator opened at the third floor and they started looking for their room. 

they found it and Keith unlocked the door and walked in. he let his stuff fall to the floor and flopped onto the face first. he closed his eyes for a little then got back up. he sat on the bed and saw that lance was sitting on the other going through his bag. Keith then remembered his dream, the one with lance. he thought what better time than 3 in the fucking morning to tell him. he decided he wanted to tell lance and get it over with. he wanted lance's thoughts on it, some one else's view and opinion. Keith cleared his throat loudly and lance stopped looking through his bag and up at Keith. "yes?" he asked. Keith swallowed the lump in his throat and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. lance raised an eyebrow in confusion. Keith took a deep breathe and then started lance all about his dream and how he was in it. when he finished lance's eyes were wide. Keith furrowed his eyebrows and asked "what's wrong?" lance only blinked his eyes a few times then said "nothing it's just that i had the same exact dream and you were in it too."


	9. Chapter 9

When Keith told lance that he'd had the same exact dream except Keith was the one who was injured. they sat in silence, both knowing that the dreams were visions and that this vision was going to happen one way or another soon. lance didn't want it to be true but it was. he looked down at his shoes and thought about it. they were going to encounter an extremely dangerous monster and it would destroy buildings. it would hurt lance and it would hurt Keith. lance looked back up at Keith, who was staring at him. they made eye contact and not one of them dared to break it. lance could see it all in Keith's eyes, the fear and worry of what was yet to come. lance felt the same way. he felt like crying, he wanted to break down and cry, to have someone hold him and hug him, to tell him it would be ok. But there really wasn't anyone there to do that now was there? his throat hurt as he choked back a sob. his eyes got watery but he blinked them away the best he could. 

why of all times would he start crying now. sure he felt like it but his body didn't need to go and start right now, not in front of Keith. he brought his hands up to his face and rubbed at his eyes furiously. he put them back in his lap and looked at Keith. he had the same look in his eyes and his face had turned red. "Keith, buddy you ok?" lance asked. Keith looked at him nodded. he looked back down and closed his eyes. lance was starting to worry that Keith might get angry and punch a wall, maybe even lance. luckily he didn't do either and instead stood up and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

lance stayed on the bed and looked at the ground. after a few minutes he took off his shoes and laid down on his bed. he didn't bother changing and turned on his side. he stared at the wall for what felt like an eternity. the door to the bathroom opened and he heard Keith walk out and sit on the bed across from his. he didn't turn to look at Keith and continued staring at the wall. he let silent tears fall and tried to not make so much noise. he obviously was failing because he heard Keith get up and walk over to sit on his bed next to him. "lance?" he said quietly. lance didn't answer and instead slowly turned to face Keith. Keith had a genuinely concerned look on his face. lance tried to stop the tears but couldn't hold them back anymore. he let out a sob and then another and then completely broke down. he cried and cried and cried and cried. he soon felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him. he cried into Keith's shirt and couldn't stop. he was scared, confused and sad all at the same time. he wasn't ready for what was coming and he didn't ask for it. he didn't ask to be taken away from his family and never see them again. he missed his family, he didn't want to die. not yet, not without saying good bye.


	10. Chapter 10

Keith didn't know why he did it but he did. he wrapped his arms around lance and let him cry into him. he couldn't bare to see lance like this. he didn't want him to feel like this, he didn't want to feel like he was alone. Keith knew this feeling personally and it wasn't the best thing at all. after losing his mom and having trouble with making friends he knew what loneliness was. it was something dark that could consume you and eat away at you till you were nothing more. he hugged lance and didn't let go. he ran his fingers through lance's soft brown hair, just like he's been wanting to for years. they stayed like this for a while and Keith didn't dare let go of lance unless he was ready. eventually lance's crying stopped and he was only sniffling now. Keith broke away enough to see his face. his nose was red and his eyes look raw and tired from all the crying. lance looked at him and instead of disgust or hatred like every other time, he smiled and his eyes said 'thank you'. "feel better?" Keith asked. lance huffed out a small laugh "yeah, much better." Keith gave him a smile. he let go of lance and as he did he swore he saw a flash of disappointment in lance's eyes, but it was gone as soon as it was there.

he stood up and walked to the door "you hungry? cause i sure as hell am. that plane food was crap." he said. lance laughed and nodded "yeah let's go." and they left their room, making sure the door was locked. they got into the elevator and pressed the button for the main floor. they walked out the hotel and found a burger king nearby. the walked in and lance went to go find a booth while Keith ordered their food. after ordering Keith went to sit down with lance. he slid into the seat in facing lance. lance was staring off into space and Keith sat there in silence. a lady came by with their food. after saying thank you Keith started eating. as they ate Keith watched as lance practically scarfed his food down. 

after a while they finished eating and threw their trash away. they left the burger king and went back to the hotel. they say anything the whole way and just walked in comfortable silence. they went through the front doors of the hotel and to the elevator. lance pressed the button for their floor and the elevator started moving. it reached the third floor and let them out. Keith unlocked the door and they walked in, lance closing the door behind them. "it's 4:09" lance announced. Keith nodded. he knew he should get some sleep but he wasn't really tired. "you should try and get some sleep." he told lance. lance shook his head "i slept the whole plane ride, i'm not really tired." 

"alright." Keith said. he started looking around for the T.V remote and found it inside the little dresser drawer. But that wasn't all he found, apparently someone or maybe even the hotel had left a pack of condoms in there. Keith quickly slammed the drawer shut and felt his face burn. it wasn't that the condoms bothered him but the fact that the hotel had left them in there. he sat on his bed and turned the T.V on. he surfed through the channels and eventually found a channel showing old black and white classic movies. he took off his shoes and socks, getting comfy on the bed. his face still felt hot. he ran a hand over his face in an attempt to calm down. lance had gone into the bathroom and was now walking out of it. he'd taken off his jacket, shoes, socks.......and his pants. he was only in a white t-shirt and his boxers. Keith felt his face burn again and suddenly his pants were growing uncomfortably tight. he looked down and saw that he was hard. he grabbed a pillow and tried not to be too obvious. thankfully lance didn't notice and was getting on his own bed. "what's this?" he heard lance ask. he shrugged "just old classic movies i guess. it was the only good thing on right now." lance didn't say anything else and they continued watching the movie. it had only been ten minutes when Keith heard lance moving. he looked over and saw that lance had gotten out of his bed and was coming over to sit next to Keith.

Keith let him and lance got onto the bed next to Keith. Keith felt his pants get even tighter now that lance was next to him. he didn't want to get up though and hoped that it would go away. they sat like this for a while till he felt something touch his leg. he realized it was lance's hand. he looked at lance and saw that he was looking at him. lance gave him a look as if asking 'can i?' and Keith nodded. lance's hand traveled up a bit and onto Keith's hard. Keith guessed that he hadn't been hiding it that well. lance moved the pillow away and crawled on top of Keith, his legs on either side of him. Keith felt his heart beating and could hear his blood rushing. he put his hands on lance's hips and looked up at him. gods he was beautiful. his blue eyes were shining even in the dark room and Keith could see his tan skin through his shirt. Keith slowly slid a hand up lance's shirt and let his fingers trail over his skin. it was soft save for a few scars from the training and surfing he did. lance reached for the collar of Keith's shirt and started tugging at it. Keith helped him take it off and threw it onto the floor. lance leaned in and Keith met him halfway, their lips meeting. lance's lips were soft and tasted sweet. Keith kissed lance hungrily. he'd been waiting for this moment for so many years.

for the day when lance would finally kiss him and let him know that he felt the same way.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys just a warning that there is sexual content in this chapter. Also so sorry for the late updates, schools been kicking my ass. Also thanks for all the kudos and reads!!! Comments are always welcome :)

Mature content warning

lance kissed Keith as if he would die if he didn't. it was true though, he would die if he'd held back any longer. Keith looked at lance with lust and need in his eyes. lance broke away only to look into Keith's beautiful purple eyes "dios eres tan hermosa" he pulled Keith back down into a deep kiss and licked his lips, asking for entrance. Keith let him and opened his lips letting their tongues dance and fight for dominance. lance took off his own shirt with the help of Keith and threw it across the room. he tackled Keith with another kiss once more. he's waited for this far too long now. he wanted Keith. he needed him. they kissed hungrily both wanting more and more. lance then separated their lips and started trailing kisses down Keith's neck, his chest, his stomach and all the way to the hem of his pants. Keith let out a small moan and that made lance smirk. he looked up at Keith and Keith nodded, giving lance permission to take his jeans off. lance didn't hesitate and unzipped his jeans throwing them onto the floor. they were both only in their boxers now. lance went back up to Keith's neck and started kissing and nibbling at it. he waited till he heard Keith moan and started sucking just at the top of his collar bone. he sucked on the skin and when he pulled away he smiled at the red mark he'd left. he continued leaving love marks all along Keith's neck, earning moans from him. 

Keith's started bucking his hips as his cock grew harder. lance held Keith's hips down and rubbed his thigh against Keith's hard. Keith moaned louder this time and gripped harder at lance's hips. lance smirked and kissed Keith as he slowly took off Keith's boxers. he moved down toward Keith's cock and kissed around it. he teased Keith by licking his tip, getting him to moan. Keith put his hands in lance's hair and whimpered "lance please." lance finally put his lips around his tip and then took his cock into his mouth. he sucked and Keith moaned, his hands tugging at lance's hair. he sucked faster but didn't let Keith cum. Keith whined and lance reached over to look through the little dresser drawer. he found the condoms and took one. he ripped it open and rolled it on. he put his fingers into Keith's mouth "suck." he said and Keith did as he was told. after lance thought it was enough he took his fingers out of Keith's mouth and then put Keith's legs on his shoulders. he found Keith's hole and slowly slid one finger in. Keith's back arched and lance started slowly pumping his finger in and out of Keith. after a while he slid in another finger, then another so he had three fingers in him. lance leaned down and kissed Keith as he did this. Keith moaned into his mouth. 

lance slid his fingers out and then leveled his cock with Keith's hole. he slowly slid the tip in and then his full length. he looked down at Keith who was staring up at him, face red. lance started thrusting in and out of Keith. he started picking up a rhythm and kissed Keith as he did this. as lance pushed in and out of him, Keith dug his nails into his back. lance was starting to sweat and so was Keith. lance picked up the pace and started thrusting faster. Keith was letting out loud moans now "laaannncccee!" this made lance go faster. gods Keith looked so beautiful like this, moaning his name and face red. his eyes we the most beautiful thing lance had ever seen. Keith pulled lance down into a kiss. this time it was passionate and sweet. his lips were warm against his own and lance loved the way his lips tasted. 

"Dios mío, te sientes tan bien." lance moaned out. he'd completely forgotten how to speak English at this point. Keith found it hot when he spoke Spanish, it turned him on. Keith loved the way lance felt inside him, filling him. he loved the way lance was gentle but rough at the same time. lance looked hot like this, sweating and moaning things in Spanish. Keith felt like he was about to explode from all the pleasure. lance had wrapped a hand around Keith's cock and started moving his hand up and down slowly. Keith felt like he was gonna cum soon. lance started moving his hand faster and Keith felt a burning sensation at the bottom of his stomach. "oh gods...." he moaned "lance i think~aaahhh~ oh gods i-i'm gonna cum!" as Keith let out a moan a long string of cum spilled onto lance's chest. Keith felt better but lance was still going, letting pleasure course through Keith's body. 

as Keith came onto lance, his nails dug hard into his back. lance knew he was probably bleeding but didn't care. he felt like he was about cum too. he kept thrusting into Keith until he came. when he did he let out a loud moan and pulled out of Keith. he took off the condom and threw it onto the floor. he collapsed on top of Keith, breathing heavily. he rolled off of Keith and onto his side so he was facing him. Keith pulled lance toward him and wrapped his arms around him, planting a kiss on his head. lance rested his head in the crook of Keith's neck and closed his eyes. he felt exhausted. it was his first time and it was amazing. he opened his eyes and looked up at Keith who was watching him. he gave lance a small smile and lance smiled back. "was.....was this your first time?" Keith asked quietly. lance nodded "yeah and i'm glad it was with you." he replied. Keith blushed "me too." he said. lance lifted his head up and kissed Keith. "i love you Keith." he said and he meant it. he's loved Keith for a long time now, sure they had their differences and sure they hadn't always gotten along but he knew for a while now that he loved this beautiful boy. he always will. "i love you too, lance." Keith kissed him again and it was slow. he couldn't help but smile into the kiss, Keith just said he loved him back and he was over the moon. they broke apart and lance closed his eyes, he was tired and wanted to sleep now. he snuggled in closer to Keith who held him closer. lance smiled to himself and fell asleep to the sound of Keith's heartbeat.


	12. Chapter 12

When Keith woke the next morning he was flooded with everything that had happened the night before. he looked at lance who was lying in his arms, his face snuggled into the crook of Keith's neck. he smiled to himself and kissed the top of lances head. he didn't want to wake him up since he barely had any peaceful moments like these, especially with a life like this. always running, always training, always fighting. Keith pulled lance closer to him and watched him as he slept. he looked so beautiful and so peaceful. he closed his eyes and listened to the sound of Lance's heart beat. he lied there enjoying the quiet. he ran his fingers through lance's hair, rubbing circles on his head softly. he felt lance snuggle in closer and this made him smile. he slowly started to drift back to sleep and started dreaming.

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It wasn't a bad dream, in fact it was a great one. he and lance were walking around someplace. it seemed to be a meadow with endless green rolling hills. lance was holding his hand and Keith could feel the shocks and shivers it sent up his arm. the electric feeling of holding lance's hand. they walked in silence and this didn't seem all to weird until Keith looked at lance's face. there were just empty black sockets where lance's beautiful ocean blue eyes should've been. Keith opened his mouth to scream but no noise came out and when he tried to let go of lance's hand, lance just gripped it harder and pulled Keith toward him. after he and Keith were flush against each other he stared at Keith and gave him a demented smile and asked in a deep and distorted voice that definitely wasn't lance's "what's the matter?" Keith tried to wriggle out of lance's hold but every time he did lance would hug him tighter and tighter. he felt as if he were gonna pass out from the lack of air going into his lungs. "am i still pretty keith?" lance asked in an all to familiar voice. the giant's voice. Keith continued to move and fight out of lance's grip but his actions were futile. slowly everything grew hazy and then black.

\--------------

Keith bolted upright in the bed, startling lance. he was breathing deeply, swallowing the air as if he'd never get enough. "are you ok?!" lance asked, worry in his voice. Keith turned to look at him but only saw the lance from his dream. lance gave him a concerned look "Keith are you ok? what happened?" he reached out to place a hand on Keith's shoulder but Keith only flinched away. lance was very concerned now. all Keith could see was the demented lance so he looked away. "hey." lance said moving closer to Keith, slowly placing a hand on either side of Keith's face. he lifted Keith's face up so his eyes would meet his own. Keith squeezed his eyes shut and refused to look lance in the eye. "hey Keith you need to tell me what happened so i can help you. i can't really do anything if you don't tell me." lance said, his voice quiet and soft. 

eventually Keith opened his eyes but didn't make eye contact with lance. "my dream it was of you, but not you..." and then he proceeded to tell lance every single little detail he could remember. lance looked sad when Keith finished. he pulled Keith closer to him and hugged him. he kissed him on the forehead and made it so their foreheads were touching. "Keith." he whispered "Keith, mi amor, look at me." he whispered softly. Keith told himself that the thing in the dream wasn't lance. it wasn't the beautiful boy he loved. he looked at lance and they sat there, gazing into each other's eyes. lance's eyes calmed Keith down almost instantly. he gave lance a small smile and lance kissed him on the nose. "you don't need to be afraid, i'm here." he said and Keith's smile widened. what did he do to deserve such a beautiful, loving boy like lance? the gods have blessed him and he was eternally grateful. he moved his head to where his lips ghosted over lance's. lance leaned in, closing the gap between them. his lips tasted so sweet and felt warm against Keith's, despite their morning breath. this kiss wasn't like any of the other ones they've shared, no this one was passionate and deep. it was a promise to each other, a promise that they would always be there for one another. 

Keith slowly pulled away and looked at lance. "what did i do to deserve someone like you?" he whispered. lance huffed out a small laugh and shook his head. Keith arched an eyebrow at this and lance saw "it's nothing, but you don't understand how amazing you are." Keith furrowed his eyebrows and looked away. "hey look at me," lance whispered. Keith looked at lance but was having a hard time believing anything he said. He wasn't special or "amazing" in any way as far as he was concerned. lance's voice snapped Keith out his thoughts "do you know how much I admired you and still do?" Keith gave lance a surprised look and lance laughed "yeah i know, but i always have and i always will. you're such an amazing fighter and just so good at everything. you never cared what others thought and i loved that because you would just do you no matter what anyone thought." Keith felt his eyes begin to water but tried to blink back the tears. lance really thought of him this way? "i always wished i could do that. not care what anyone thinks, but i'm the son of Poseidon and there's a lot of pressure there. everyone always expects you to be great and do great things, but to be honest i don't think i'll be able to live up to all their expectations." lance sniffled and Keith watched as a tear rolled down his cheek. "hey, hey don't cry." Keith said as he wiped the tear away. he cupped lance's face with one hand and lance leaned into the touch, kissing the palm of Keith's hand.

"just forget about who everyone wants you to be, I think you are beautiful and perfect just the way you are." He meant every word because it was all true. lance is perfect just the way he is and he needed to know that. lance looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes of his "thank you." was all he said, Keith smiled at him and lance smiled back. gods how he adored lance's smile, it could always light up the room and made butterflies come alive in his stomach. then Keith realized something, lance and his smile were a couple of the few things that made him smile nowadays. ever since his mother's death he didn't smile much after that, he always had a serious face. But not long after meeting lance his smile came back and it was always genuine, never forced or faked. He pulled lance into a hug and didn't want to let go, he held him as tight as he could without suffocating the other boy. he felt that if he let go he'd lose lance, he felt like all of this was dream and he didn't want it to end.


	13. Chapter 13

When Keith held him, Lance couldn't help but think that this is the safest he's ever felt. as they lied there lance felt at peace without a care in the world. he breathed in the scent that was Keith's, clean soap and vanilla, and closed his eyes. he knew they had to leave soon but wanted to enjoy this for a little while longer.

\----------

after a little while longer of cuddling and enjoying the peace, they got up. lance looked around for his clothes and got dressed. he was zipping up his pants when he saw Keith's back. he saw the curves and muscles of it, remembering how it all felt underneath his touch. he couldn't help but stare as Keith put his shirt on, the muscles in his back moving as he did so. Keith had turned around and caught lance staring, he simply smiled and continued getting dressed. Lance felt his face burn a little and grabbed his shirt.

he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and saw the scratch marks that Keith had left from the night before. they weren't too deep and would heal pretty quick, eventually disappearing over time. he put his shirt on and brushed his teeth. Keith had joined him in the bathroom and was attempting to fix his messy hair. 

they both had finished brushing their teeth and cleaning themselves up and left the bathroom. they'd gathered all their things and left the room. Keith closed the door behind them and they walked to the front desk. Keith returned the key and they left the hotel. Keith found a taxi and they got in. they didn't really say anything to one another and sat in a comfortable silence. at some point, Lance decided to reach out for Keith's hand and hold it. Keith intertwined their fingers together and held tight onto lance's hand.

Keith asked if they could be dropped off at a bus station. when they got there they got out, paid the driver, and went to see when the next bus for Arizona leaves. while they were buying the tickets lance noticed that Keith was acting weird. the next bus wouldn't be leaving till 12:50 so they only had about 10 minutes to spare. Keith had gone to sit down next to the ticket booth. Lance walked over to join him, sitting next to him. 

"Hey are you ok?" he asked

Keith didn't say anything and stayed quiet instead. they stayed like that in silence until Keith spoke, breaking the silence.

"What are we?" he said

Lance felt his breath catch in his throat at the question.

"what do you mean 'what are we'?"

He looked at Keith trying to read his expression but it was undecipherable. 

"I mean what are we? are we together now or was it a one-time thing?" 

Lance gave him an extremely confused look 

"A one-time thing? Are you serious, Keith, those things we said to each other aren't things you say to just anyone ."

He took Keith's hands into his own and looked at him, but he was looking down. He could see it all now, He looked so vulnerable, nervous, and even scared. scared that lance might reject and leave him to hurt. scared that he'll be left all alone in this. He was opening himself up to Lance, something he never did with anyone else. 

"Keith," he said, trying to get the other boy to meet his gaze and when he did Lance saw everything he's ever wanted in those eyes. 

"Will you be my boyfriend?" he finally asked. Keith's eyes sparkled at that moment, they were bright and happy. 

"Of course I will." He answered, with the biggest and most beautiful smile Lance had ever seen. Lance felt his own heart explode with joy and warmth flowed everywhere in his chest. He pulled Keith into an awkward hug and felt the other boy hug him back. when they pulled away the announcement came saying that their bus was leaving in five minutes. They stood up and walked to the bus, holding hands the whole way.


End file.
